This is only for those who think they are legal after 30 days on a tourist card. That illegality was cleared up years ago when Dr Fabio Guzman said the exit money paid when people stay over 30 days was an extra legal workaround of the DR's immigration laws. So for johne:
Illegal aliens in DR
People are getting upset that they need to pay overstay fines using plastic since cash is no longer accepted in order to cut down on corruption by Migracion agents. Well, you were illegal and now complain about how you are allowed to pay for that… Go figure.
The tourist card payment of 10 USD is included in the price of your airline ticket when you fly from a tourist card country to the DR. According to DR law, the tourist card is valid for 15 days. You can see how far from the law the extra legal regulations of paying overstay fines are. Here is the actual law:
The PLD ignored the laws written by the previous party in the early 2000’s and instead put in the extra legal work-around of these exit fines not based in DR laws which some call fees. When you overpark do you pay a fine or a fee? Why would you pay a fine on the way out if you were legal all the time you were in the DR? Answer is because you were not legal after 30 days
Call it what you like, it is money you pay for overstaying illegally.. Here is what it said at the bottom of the payment schedule when the PLD created those exit “payments” back in the early 2000s:
Este pago no supone una prórroga que autorice al nacional extranjero a permanecer en el país. Translated to English: This payment does not constitute an extension that authorizes the foreign national to remain in the country.
Regarding driving in the DR: I spoke directly to the manager of INTRANT in Puerto Plata when my wife was getting her motorcycle endorsement to her license. I asked him how long a foreign driver’s license is valid in the DR and that INTRANT manager told me 30 days.
If your foreign license is valid for only thirty days is your Dominican automobile insurance policy liable to pay for any accidents you have when driving after 30 days on a no longer valid foreign license?
If you are legally in the DR after overstaying a tourist card why can you not get a DR driver’s license? You must have a DR Cedula to get a DR drivers license which means you are either a legal resident of some type or a citizen of the DR.
You can open a bank account for the first 30 days that you are in the DR on a tourist card using your passport. Not after 30 days. Why is that if you can stay as long as you like on a tourist card and be , ahem, “legal”?
There is a path to legal residency that exists, yes even for those from tourist card countries, who want to legally be in the DR after 30 days from entry and qualify through various financial methods . Not everyone will qualify and it takes some effort. It starts at the Dominican Embassy in your home country with a special residency visa and a number of required documents and payments. Why do they have a path to legal residency, getting a DR drivers license, etc etc if you can stay as long as you like on a tourist card ? All that information is available at migracion.gob.do by clicking the ways to get legal residency in the DR.
All that said, I know that the DR government does not enforce quite a few laws. Some of these are laws with respect to people that overstay tourist cards. I know people that live here full time and enter on tourist cards. When they leave they pay for the overstay. They come back and repeat over and over. And they drive after 30 days on foreign licenses with only a very few reporting they are fined for driving after 30 days on a foreign license. How would you like being hit by someone driving illegally and their insurance won’t cover the damages to you?
If anyone wants to dispute any of this feel free to speak with the government officials at INTRANT and Migracion.gob.do . I did. And I read the DR laws as well.
Illegal aliens in DR
People are getting upset that they need to pay overstay fines using plastic since cash is no longer accepted in order to cut down on corruption by Migracion agents. Well, you were illegal and now complain about how you are allowed to pay for that… Go figure.
The tourist card payment of 10 USD is included in the price of your airline ticket when you fly from a tourist card country to the DR. According to DR law, the tourist card is valid for 15 days. You can see how far from the law the extra legal regulations of paying overstay fines are. Here is the actual law:
The PLD ignored the laws written by the previous party in the early 2000’s and instead put in the extra legal work-around of these exit fines not based in DR laws which some call fees. When you overpark do you pay a fine or a fee? Why would you pay a fine on the way out if you were legal all the time you were in the DR? Answer is because you were not legal after 30 days
Call it what you like, it is money you pay for overstaying illegally.. Here is what it said at the bottom of the payment schedule when the PLD created those exit “payments” back in the early 2000s:
Este pago no supone una prórroga que autorice al nacional extranjero a permanecer en el país. Translated to English: This payment does not constitute an extension that authorizes the foreign national to remain in the country.
Regarding driving in the DR: I spoke directly to the manager of INTRANT in Puerto Plata when my wife was getting her motorcycle endorsement to her license. I asked him how long a foreign driver’s license is valid in the DR and that INTRANT manager told me 30 days.
If your foreign license is valid for only thirty days is your Dominican automobile insurance policy liable to pay for any accidents you have when driving after 30 days on a no longer valid foreign license?
If you are legally in the DR after overstaying a tourist card why can you not get a DR driver’s license? You must have a DR Cedula to get a DR drivers license which means you are either a legal resident of some type or a citizen of the DR.
You can open a bank account for the first 30 days that you are in the DR on a tourist card using your passport. Not after 30 days. Why is that if you can stay as long as you like on a tourist card and be , ahem, “legal”?
There is a path to legal residency that exists, yes even for those from tourist card countries, who want to legally be in the DR after 30 days from entry and qualify through various financial methods . Not everyone will qualify and it takes some effort. It starts at the Dominican Embassy in your home country with a special residency visa and a number of required documents and payments. Why do they have a path to legal residency, getting a DR drivers license, etc etc if you can stay as long as you like on a tourist card ? All that information is available at migracion.gob.do by clicking the ways to get legal residency in the DR.
All that said, I know that the DR government does not enforce quite a few laws. Some of these are laws with respect to people that overstay tourist cards. I know people that live here full time and enter on tourist cards. When they leave they pay for the overstay. They come back and repeat over and over. And they drive after 30 days on foreign licenses with only a very few reporting they are fined for driving after 30 days on a foreign license. How would you like being hit by someone driving illegally and their insurance won’t cover the damages to you?
If anyone wants to dispute any of this feel free to speak with the government officials at INTRANT and Migracion.gob.do . I did. And I read the DR laws as well.
